Regulating apparatus.



1. BUUR. nae'umms APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED NOV 18. 1911.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

INVENTOR ATTORIV S WITNESSES A elements and arrangement of parts w willbe exemplified in the construction here UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH BIJUR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE SAFETY CAR HEATING ANDLIGHTIIIG 00., OF NEW YORK, Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

REGULATING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH BIJUR, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Regulating Apparatus, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to electrical systems, and with respect to itsmore spec fic features, to an electric system comprising regulatorsadapted to maintain a constant voltage therein. 1

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a device of the classdescribed which shall rapidly respond in an accurate and sensitivemanner to electrical changes in the system.

Another object is to provide a practical and efiicient device of theclass described which shall be simple and compact.

Another object is to provide reliable voltwhich sudden age-regulatingapparatus in changes in the load may be made without disturbing thevoltage thereon.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed outhereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,corn'binationsh 01f1 inafter set forth, and the scope of the applicationof which will be indicated in the following claims.

The drawing, which represents one of various possible embodiments of theinvention, is a diagrammatic plan.

It is believed that it will tend to a more complete appreciation of thevarious features of this invention to point out that in the illuminationof railway cars in systems which comprise an ax1e-driven dynamo, thevariation in voltage across the battery terminals that occurs as thespeed of the car changes is relatively slow, since the cars do not speedup nor slow down instantly. There are, however, in addition to theseslow changes, very rapid alterations caused by suddenlythrowing on oroff a large fraction of the total load comprising the lamps or othertranslating devices. These changes may occur in a very short interval oftime,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 18, 1911.

York and State spider Patented Jan. 2, 1917. Serial n. 660,945. f

usually in a fraction of a a slowly acting regulator, tuations'in thevoltage of result; The invention herein described is peculiarly adaptedto eliminate these rapid fluctuations in voltage and provide as well ahighly useful device which accomplishes many apparent from the followingdescription.

'Referrmg now to the drawing, 1 represecond, and with objectionableflucthe system would sents an axle-driven dynamo provided with.

a shunt field 2. The dynamo acts as a source ofelectrical energy for thedistribution circult, comprising the conductor 3 there is inserted anautomatic switch. This comprises a solenoid 5, connected inseries inthecircuit, and a solenoid. 6, connected in parallel between the mains 3and 4, and having associated therewith a resistance coil 7 adapted tocompensate for temperature changes. These solenoids are cumulativelyWound and are adapted to cooperate with a core 8. I The core 8 isoperatively related to a switch arm 9 which is normally held, by meansof a spring 10, in such position that the circuit through conductor 3 isbroken.' The action of a. main switch of this type is well known. I

Connected across the mains 3 and 1 is a storage-battery 11, and theseveral banks of lamps 12, 13, 14. and 15 are so arranged andconnected-as to be thrown'across the mains in parallel with the batteryby the substantially identical switches 16, hereinafter described indetail. Serially disposed in the conductors leading to these severallamp-circuits are rheostats 17, 18, 19 and 20, each of these rheostatscomprising a series of resistance coils provided with contacts 21. Thesecontacts areall arranged in substantially concentric form with respectto a shaft 22, on which is a spider 23, the arms of which, in this case,four in number, coact respectively with the several rheostats.

The circuit from the main 3 leads to the 23 and thence outwardly throughthe several arms to the corresponding rheostats and the severallamp-circuits constituting the load. It is to be noted in thisconnection that each lamp-circuit is provided with a separate resistanceelement, these resistances being all connected in parallel and beingsimultaneously and proportionately other desirable results that will bethe conductors 3 and 4. In 7 varied in value as the spider 23 is rotatedby the shaft 22. The rotary movement of shaft 22 is gained from theseries motor, the armature of which is indicated at 24,

and the shaft 25 of which is operatively connected with the spider bythe worm and wheel mechanism 26. Mounted uponshaft 25 is a friction drum27, having a spring pressed brake-shoe 28 bearing thereon and serving toprevent the overrunning of the motor in either direction by inertiaafter the impelling power is withdrawn. This motor is serially connectedin this embodi ment and its field 29 comprises two equal and opposedwindings normally neutralizing one another in efiect. Leading from thepoint of connection of these windings is a conductor 30, whichterminates at the pivot of a swinging contact 31, which is connectedwith the arms 32 and 33, provided with a retractingspring 34. Arm 32,and hence the contact 31, is controlled by the core 35 of a solenoid 36,connected in series with the low temperature co-eificient resistance 37between the conductor 38 and the main 4.

The contact arm 31 is provided with a pair of spring contacts 39 and 40,respectively coacting with the fixed contacts 41 and 42.- The lattercontacts are respectively connectedwith the ends of the field windingofthe controlling motor and are also cut into the main conductor 43, asshown, to provide a series field. In the action of this controlling orpilot motor, it will be seen that as contact 39 is swung intoengagement, with the contact 41, there will be provided a short-circuitthrough conductor 30 about the field winding 44, thus giving full effectto field winding 45 and causing rotation 9f the motor and swinging ofthe spider 23. On the other hand, if the I contact 40 is swung intoengagement with contact 42, the field winding 45 will beshort-circuited, rendering the field winding 44 operative, and the motorwill be driven in the reverse direction, thus reversing the movement ofspider 23. It will thus be seen that when the contact arm 30 occupiesmidposition, as indicated in full lines in the drawing, the motor willremain inoperative, but, upon it swinging in'either one or the otherdirection, as due to an excess or deficiency in the field strength ofvoltage coil 36, then armature 24 will be rotated in such direction asto varythe several resistance elements 17, 18, 19 and 20 until the voltage is again brought to normal, whereupon arm 31 will again occupymid-position. The spring contacts 39 and 40- are preferably employed inorder that there may be given a slight rubbing action to the engagingsurfaces as they are brought into operative relation to the stationarymembers 41 and 42.

. Referring now in detail to the connections the latter being intense ofthe several lamp-circuits, it may be noted that the several conductors46 lead. from the resistance elements 17 18, 19 and 20 to the terminals'47 of the switches 16. These switches, all of which are substantiallyidentical, are of the three-pole type, and the blades 48 and 49respectively connect the terminal 47 with the conductor 50 at one sideof the lamps and the main 4 with the conductor 51 upon the other side.Contact 52 is in each case permanently connected with a terminal 53,from which the blade 54 makes connection with the contact 55 of aconductor 56 upon the corresponding bank of lamps being thrown incircuit. Each conductor 56 is connected with the wire 38, and, hence,upon any bank of lamps being thrown on, there is a connection leadingthrough spider 23 and one Or more of the resistance elements andswitches to conductor 38, and thence to the voltage coil 36 and themotor through conductor 57.

In the operation of this system, when one or more of the severallamp-circuits is thrown on by the switch 16, the voltage coil 36 isconnected across the mains in parallel with the lamps.'- It, now, thevoltage on the lamps, for any reason, tends to exceed a chosen normalvalue, the core 35 will be attracted to such an extent as to overcomespring 34 and make connection between the contacts 39 and 41. This willshort-circuit the field winding 44, as above explained, and cause thearmature 24 to rotate in such direction as simultaneously to increasethe value of the several rheostats, This increase of resistance inseries with the lamps will decrease the voltage impressed thereon, andthe parts are so-adjusted that when this voltage reaches the desiredstandard, the spring 34 will overcome the effect of the weakened fieldof coil 36 and again bring the contact 31 into its inoperativemidposition. The field windings 44 and 45 will then balance one anotherin eifect and the impelling force upon shaft 25 will be with drawn,causing the latter to stop instantly by the action of the friction brake28. If, on the other hand, the voltage across the lamps becomes two low,there will arise an action which is the reverse of that above described,the field 45 being short-circuited, the pilot motor driven in theopposite direction, and the value of the several resistances decreaseduntil'a normal condition has been attained. If the entire lamp load isthrown oil, the circuit through voltage coil 36 and through the armatureof the motor, the latter comprising conductor 57 running from conductor38, is broken and there is thus avoided any leakage of current when thesystem is not in use. Upon one or more of the banks of lamps beingthrown into or out of circuit, its corresponding rheostat is also cutout, and hence there is no appretional variation in the ciable effectupon the voltage of the remaining lamp-circuits. For example, if thelamp-circuit 12 is disconnected, the circuit through resistance element17 is opened, but the several resistance elements 18, 19'and 20 remainin circuit upon the lamp-circuits 13, 14: andl5. like manner, if a bankof lamps, as 13, be thrown on, the corresponding resistance element 18is simultaneously cut in. The advantage of this action will be renderedobviousby contrast with that obtaining in a system in which a singlevariable resistance governs the voltage upon several lampcircuits. Inthe latter case, the entire load passes through this resistance and thevoltage drop in this rheostat, which is, of course, equal to the productof its ohmic resistance, and the current passing therethrough will varywith the latter fact. If, now, a section of the load be thrown oil oron, there will be a corresponding variation in the current'passingthrough the rheostat, a proporvoltage drop in the rheostat, and aconsequent change in the voltage impressed upon the lamps still incircuit. This change would be instantaneous and would result in a suddenexcess or deficiency of the lamps which were still on. In the presentcase, however, any bank of lamps may be thrown on or off and there is novariation in the current passing through the voltage-controllingrheostats of the remainin circuits.

It wil accordingly be seen that there is provided apparatus in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and widelydifferent embodiments of this invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also tobe understood that the langua e used in the following claims is intendeto cover all of the generic and specific features of the inventionherein described and all statements of the scope of to control thevoltage many apparently the invention, which, as a mater of language, miht be said to fall therebetween.

aving described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In apparatus of the class described, in combination, a source ofcurrent, a plurality of lamp circuits, means adapted separately toconnect said lamp circuits to said source of current, a plurality ofvariable resistance media, one of which is serially connected in eachlamp circuit, a motor, a voltage relay controlling said motor andconnected to present a field proportional to the voltage across thelamps, and means varying said media actuated from said motor to maintainthe voltage across the lamps substantially constant, said relay andmotor be ing connected with a lamp circuit on the lamp side of saidfirst connecting means.

2. In apparatus of the class described, in combination, a source ofpower, a plurality of lighting circuits each comprising a pair ofconductors in one of which is serially connected a resistance medium anda bank of lamps bridged in parallel across said conductors, a pluralityof double-pole switches respectively adapted to connect said circuitsacross said source in parallel one with another, each of said resistancemedia being so disposed in the corresponding conductor as to betraversed by the entire c rent passing to the corresponding bank oflamps, said several resistance media each comprising a plurality ofcontacts grouped about a rotary member, a. member moun upon said rotarymember and provided with arms respectively coacting with said sets ofcontacts, an electric motor controlling said rotary member, and meanscontrolled in accordance with the voltage across said lamps andcontrolling the direction and duration of drive of said motor.

In testimony whereof ture, in the presence of two witnesses,

JOSEPH BIJUR.

Witnesses:

R. S. Bmm, L. A. WATSON. 1

I aflix my. signa-

